Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
by Wunterwaffen
Summary: This is a novelization of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes that contains things that weren't in the actual game. Please read the whole story and then review.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

_----Mission file 02546----_

_8 days ago, contact with Galactic Federation trooper squad Bravo was lost._

_----Contract Agreement----_

_Locate Federation troopers and render assistance._

_----Data Confirmation----_

_Last transmission received from a rogue planet in the Dasha region called Aether._

_Uploading last known coordinates__

_Scanning… target found._

_Analyzing… flight path set._

Samus Aran looked thru the window of her new gunship at the planet Aether.

It was a strange planet, with an atmosphere that was grey but had purple overlaid on it that shimmered. Samus ignored the feeling of dread that gnawed at her stomach and flew the ship into the atmosphere.

Once in the atmosphere, it became clear that it was very stormy. The clouds were constantly shifting gray and purple, with lightning rending the darkness every few seconds. Undaunted, Samus prepared to land.

"Easy now… easy… alright I'm gonna start the landing cycle."

Suddenly the ship lurched. In the cockpit, warning signs went up all over the place. "Dang it!" Samus growled. "Lightning strike. I'm losing control. Better hang on tight."

Samus's gunship was now freefalling toward the ground ten thousand feet below. "Okay, were going down," she said.

Samus hit the rock surface with tremendous force, breaking thru it to reveal a room of sorts below. Samus pulled up and set the smoldering gunship on the ground. After turning on the ship's auto repair functions, Samus jumped out of the ship and surveyed her surroundings.

She was in a naturally formed room with stone walls and a ceiling that was partially destroyed due to her ship crashing thru. Behind her ship and on the sides of the room were tall odd looking stone pillars and one pillar under a high ledge that led elsewhere that was so short as to not really be a pillar at all but more of a stone block. A crystal of some sort was imbedded in the outward facing side of the block. A half a dozen yards away the opposite end of the room was blocked by what appeared to be a giant web with a green pod set squarely in the center.

Samus scanned the tall pillars first. _Object scan complete. Statue houses a generator, motivator unit, and an energy projection array. All systems are offline, due to age or structural damage._

Samus scanned the stone block next. _Object scan complete. Statue's motivator is functional, but requires power to operate. The Power Beam can't energize the statue. Seek an alternate energy source._

Finally, Samus scanned the green pod in the center of the webbing. _Object scan complete. Organic pod containing a highly acidic fluid. Shell is vulnerable to weapons fire._

Samus fired at the pod and it burst, instantly destroying the strange webbing. Several more webs were behind it, but Samus blew them up too. This revealed a door leading to another room. After walking thru the door, Samus found herself in a room that led to a fork. One way was sealed by a bizarre door with a hologram. Samus scanned it. _Unable to interface with door control system. Cannot translate alien text. To access the door, you will need to update your translator files._

The other way led to a big hole. Samus took a deep breath and jumped into the hole.

Samus landed with a thud and found herself in a cave of sorts with GF crates piled here and there and a GF gate blocking the way. Devices on the walls were expelling green gas. Fire was burning everywhere.

Samus's back hair stood on end. _Something is definitely wrong. I knew it._ Samus scanned the dead creatures on either side of the door. _Terminated bioform scan complete. Codex genome match: Splinter. Cause of death: inhalation of industrial grade pesticide. Toxic elements still present in local atmosphere. Maintain suit lockdown for effective life support._

Samus opened the gate and scanned a panel to open a cargo door. Inside she found several computers and a map station. After getting the map, Samus went into the next room and was horrified by what she saw.

Worker Splinters, creatures that perform the menial labor of the swarms, were busy preparing food for the hive. The unappetizing menu consisted of deceased Galactic Federation troopers strung up by their toes from the ceiling.

Samus killed the bugs, then scanned one of the bodies. _Terminated bioform scan complete. Codex genome match: standard human. Scans indicate that this trooper died of cardiac arrest. Chemical levels in body suggest a state of extreme fear at time of death._ The next body said: _Cause of death: blunt trauma to numerous critical points. Bioscan results indicate there were at least thirty individual attackers involved in this trooper's demise._

The next one said: _Source of fatal wounds: Galactic Federation assault weapon. Trooper was in all likelihood killed by friendly fire. Whether it was an accident or not remains to be seen._ The next one said: _Cause of death difficult to determine. Digestive fluid present within armor; subject is being broken down into simpler matter for consumption by local predators._

The last one said: _Scans detect an extremely high level of an unknown toxin in target's body. Micropunctures detected in armor and body; trace elements of toxin around these areas._

In the next room there were several dead troopers and fires burning. Samus scanned one of the troopers and read his diary.

_I don't like this plan. This hive is just one small portion of a larger network. There may be dozens of hive systems like this all across the planet, and they may all be linked. Destroying this one may buy us time, but it may also provoke the other hives into attacking._

The next trooper's diary said:

_There's something wrong with the lock systems in this section. They've failed twice, locking us out until someone came around to let us in. If it happens again while we're playing bait for those things, well at least we'll go out fighting instead of hiding in the control area._

Samus found a tunnel leading to another room. After rolling thru the tunnel, Samus found a bomb slot. She then detonated a morph ball bomb in the slot to restore the panel in the other room. As the deed was done, the lights went out. Then it happened.

One of the dead troopers stirred. And moved. And got up and walked towards Samus. Slowly, with a zombielike attitude. "I-it can't be," she said. "Th-these guys have been dead for eight..." Several more got up and started shooting at her. Samus scanned one.

_Morphology: Dark Trooper. Deceased GF trooper. Bioscans indicate terminated life signs in this trooper and the presence of an unknown biomass with parasitic tendencies. Although the trooper's armor has been compromised, the bulk of it remains intact. Weapons systems remain online as well. Full parasitic fusion has yet to tube obtained, resulting in low agility and response time._

Samus moved closer. Behind the broken visor of one dark trooper, she thought she could see dark purple skin and glowing red eyes. As the trooper fired, Samus fired a missile, sending him flying backwards, where it crashed to the floor as dead as a doornail.

After doing the same to the second one, Samus rolled back into the other room. Several more corpses were getting up and firing at her. Samus knew some otherworldly beings must be inhabiting these bodies. Judging by the Splinter corpses she had found, it seemed that these entities had possessed them, making them much harder to kill. A large swarm of these Dark Splinters was probably what wiped out squad Bravo.

After killing the dark troopers, Samus opened the gate, revealing several more. Samus killed them, then went thru the door beyond. Samus found herself in a small room piled high with crates. Samus blew up the crates to gain energy and ammo, then went into the next room.

The next room was misty, with a few crates lying around. But that was not what caught Samus's eye. Directly in front of her was a shadowy figure. It wore a suit just like Samus's, except it was a very dark blue, almost black. Samus almost fell over from the wave of terror that engulfed her.

_The Worm. So help me... the Worm._ The Metroid Prime was not dead. It had returned... as a Dark Samus!

The Metroid Prime fired its arm cannon at a purple thing in front of it. The thing turned into a cloud that made a noise that sounded like wind and lightning. Dark Samus went into the cloud and vanished.

Samus scanned the cloud.

_Scan complete. Unknown dimensional anomaly. Anomaly seems to be a dimensional rift. Target destination unknown._

Samus took a deep breath and stepped into the cloud.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Samus found herself in a dark canyon. Next to her was a pole with a crystal on the end. This crystal projected a force field around her. Ahead of her was a wall covered with Phazon that Prime was sucking up. And on top of the wall, several strange and dark creatures stared at her. Each had a red eye in the center.

Suddenly Prime turned and fired at the crystal, destroying it. Then she left. The creatures clamored down from the wall and surrounded her. The force field vanished, and Samus's energy drained away as if the very air was damaging her. When it was all gone, the creatures jumped on her. Samus tried to fire, but they were on her before she could aim. At least forty of the vile things jumped on her, forcing her back into the portal from whence she came.

Samus woke up in the room she had started in. The portal was gone. Her energy was gone. A message appeared on her visor.

_Chozo battlesuit Z954-3K62-4VMP Alert! Gear stolen by unknown creatures._

"Not again," Samus moaned. _Space Jump Thrusters offline. Missile launcher offline. Morph Ball Bomb generator offline. Power Bomb module offline. Boost Ball offline. Spider Ball offline. Grapple Beam offline. All remaining systems: online and active._

"Wait a minute," said Samus. "That means I still have the Charge Beam... the Morph Ball... and the Varia Suit! Well, aren't I lucky! Not at all like the last time this happened. Let alone the time before that! I lost everything!"

With the missile launcher gone, Samus had to use the Charge Beam to kill the dark troopers in the next room. After going thru many rooms, Samus came to a narrow tunnel with a security gate. Samus reviewed the many lore entries from the troopers.

_I think Haley's losing it. He talks to himself all the time and he won't sleep. He almost shot me on watch the other night. I think he thought I was one of those things. I talked to the doc about taking him off the line and he told me we need all the help we can get. That's true, but if he goes berserk and kills a bunch of us, that won't be very helpful._

Another one said:

_We'll be making our stand here. The engineer told me there's no way we'll get the ship's engines online, and atmospheric interference is scrambling our distress signal. If anyone reads this, know that we did our duty and fought well._

Samus saw a panel with a dead trooper in the other part of the room that was divided by a metal grating. Samus rolled thru a hole with the morph ball and scanned the panel.

****

Angseth lay dying. The gate was still closed. The gate would remain closed for a very long time. No one would open a gate that served no purpose. She had done her job, and held her post. She had been told, if falsely, that if the gate was down, the base would be safe. She had closed this gate with her life and with any luck, her spirit would continue to haunt this plane until the end of time. She could have ensured that the gate would stay closed longer if she just had more bullets. Angseth had no desire to die on this planet, her body eaten by all these alien creatures. The last log in her data book, now that she had been going over it, seemed to be very childish. She threw a fit over not getting placed on the main entry team into the Splinters' lair. True, she could out-shoot everyone here, but only provided she had enough rounds. Perhaps Admiral Mizzen was right; if she would just stop talking about the Hunter long enough to train a little harder perhaps she wouldn't end up in this situation.

For as long as Angseth had been in the Marines, her mind had been filled with wonderful stories about a lone bounty hunter that often took on federation missions for a price. The bounty hunter's name was Samus Aran. Not very many people had any concrete information on Aran; even Aran's gender was in dispute. Angseth had collected as much information as she could in the four long years she had been a marine. Tales of the Hunters adventures had reached almost every mess hall in the federation, and the stories were swapped and traded like cards or talismans. For the most the stories served to entertain, but Angseth felt that she was one of the few who actually believed. The idea that a female bounty hunter could destroy an entire infestation of pirates was enough to keep Angseth at the shooting range long after everyone else had turned in for the night. The stories that Aran could solve and by pass intricate security systems of ancient civilizations encouraged Angseth to learn more about their own. When most of the members of her platoon were out drinking, Angseth had locked herself away in a library reading up on battle strategy.

A lot of good all that did now.

Baker had stopped crying about ten minutes ago. Angseth couldn't be sure because her armor had been compromised and her view screen had lost half its functions. One thing she was sure of, Baker had stopped moving. For the time being, the bugs had retreated into the walls, burrowing deeper into the solid rock around Angseths fellow marines. She had been told to close the gates, but the little critters didn't need gates. They simply dug through the walls. They came up from the floor, heck a few of the more dangerous ones pulled themselves out of thin air. The Splinters had been bad enough, they resembled oversized crickets that screamed and had the ability to chew through just about anything. On their own they weren't too hard to deal with, one or two shots and the majority of the colony would move on. Then the Purple Crap started coming. The term had been coined by Baker, who had been the first one to really get a good look at it. He had been standing near the main computer terminals when a gooey dark purple almost black mass came out of the crack in the wall next to him and began slithering across the floor. This caused Baker to exclaim, "What the heck is that Purple Crap?"

Angseth still had no idea what the Purple Crap was. At first they assumed that it was a kind of fast moving fungus, or perhaps a plankton-like plant colony, or some other natural explanation. The Purple Crap had sniffed around the main computer terminals, the walls, past the feet of a few marines before disappearing back into another crack. This subterranean base was just full of surprises. A few days later they witnessed something else remarkably odd. They had been passing the time, watching a few Splinters duke it out for mating rights, when the Purple Crap oozed out of another crack and slithered up the fighting pair of bugs. That was when they learned that the Purple Crap had extremely strong mutative qualities. It engulfed the Splinters and began altering their physical structure. The end result was something out of a nightmare. The new creatures pounced upon the few marines posted there and killed two of them before alarm had been raised. Angseth remembered firmly that it took twenty rounds each to kill the newly mutated Splinters. Twenty rounds were too much ammo to waste on one fast moving creature. Within twenty four hours their entire base had been overcome by these mutated creatures, but it didn't stop there. The Purple Crap had even engulfed both the living and dead bodies of the Marines fighting it. Angseth would never forget the pain that moved through the platoon when they had to take down one of their own.

Now here she was, the last wave had all but annihilated her squad. If there was anyone left alive she hoped that they had made it to the signal beacon. The signal beacon had been damaged upon atmospheric entry, and didn't have enough juice to put out a strong enough signal. At least that was what her CO had said.

Angseth had been around long enough to know when someone was lying through their teeth.

She could feel her blood pooling in her armor. She had never wanted a slow death, if anything, all she prayed for was to go out in a blaze of glory, just like in the movies or the comics. Thankfully she had been injured enough that the pain she was in didn't matter any more. The gate was closed.

Angseth could hear something in the hall. Another Marine? Rocks slipping from the wall? Maybe a Splinter looking for a meal? Plenty to be found here. _Please wait until after I die before you start munching okay?_

No, footsteps. Had to be footsteps. There was too much rhythm to be anything else. The footsteps came closer. Had help finally arrived? She would remember the sound of an incoming marine vessel, especially if it had as rough a landing as they had. The Atmosphere on Aether was thick with electrical and radioactive phenomena. Even as they had landed and looked up at the new sky in this world, they could see what had looked like some god had tried to over lap two completely different sections of sky. It was simultaneously stormy and sunny. At first you looked, there were clouds, the next time you looked, bright purple. The sky changed so much, no wonder their ship took a pounding on the way in.

The sound stopped outside the gate. A thought crossed her mind that perhaps it was one of their zombie buddies searching for leftovers. Angseth had never wanted to be dead so much in her life. _Zombies eat the brains of the living don't they?_ The most frustrating part was Angseth couldn't turn her head to look at the gate. She could see the bottom of Bakers shoe just fine but she lacked the strength and ability to turn.

The gate rattled. Angseth had already been laying still but now she was seriously playing dead. The gate was firm thing, it didn't rattle. The gate was made from the finest alloys; it would take something very strong to rattle it. No, no human would be getting in here. A human would be welcome, or any one of the hundreds of sentient races that called the Federation home. Anyone but those possessed Splinters. The gate rattled once more, bolts creaking in their sockets, but holding. One long moment passed, and Angseth became aware of another sound. It was something mechanical, something that whirred and hummed like a spent holoprojector. She could now feel a vague rumble move through her body, like getting too close to a generator. There was a tunnel to her right, one of those Splinters had dug it, the one that got the drop on her, the one that had run up her body and imbedded its claws into her chest and legs, screaming and fighting the entire time. Angseth had grabbed it and slammed its body into the ground, then clubbed it to death with her fists and rifle. Five more of its friends then jumped her.

The entrance to the tunnel was just outside of her line of sight, but if she could manage to move her head just slightly, she could see what new torture was coming her way. Angseth felt that it almost took an act of God, but she managed to budge her head the inch or so to bring the tunnel into view.

The rough walls of the tunnel were nothing new, chipped and scrapped into existence by many little clawed feet. There was a light, a soft glow that had some kind of thickness to it. Much like a holoscreen, as if you could pick it up and work it to your will. The rumble was still mild. The light grew brighter, and Angseth felt much confusion mixed with fear at the sight of her own reflection cast upon a smooth sphere-like surface. The sphere had a seam down the middle, where the light was spilling forth, humming with the power within. The sphere was goldish orange in color, and while it had a near-mirror finish, it wasn't without flaws, slight scuff and drag marks marked the surface, distorting Angseth's reflection. Next to this work of art Angseth felt tiny and useless. Fear had settled to the back of her mind and curiosity took the fore. She hoped that this wouldn't be some new threat. Was the Purple Crap just a method of clearing out the trash so this thing could move in?

The sphere rolled by and stopped almost dead center of the room. Angseth watched as cracks began to appear in its surface, and joints began pulling apart letting the light within spill out into the room. The sphere pulled apart in what looked like a duck-and roll maneuver, it emptied a fully armored person into the room. The individual gained their feet, and began looking around. Angseth stared at this person, caught somewhere between delight and dismay.

She had died.

And Samus Aran was here to lead her into the afterlife.

****

Samus saw another dead trooper and scanned it.

_This is ridiculous. I can outshoot half the men here and I'm stuck on monitor duty. I didn't join up to stare at a holoscreen! This wouldn't happen to Samus Aran. She'd be out there taking care of business, not pushing buttons and sending reports._

But the visor picked up something else up too. This trooper was still alive!

Samus acted quickly. She tore apart her armor, then used psychic healing powers her Chozo blood had given her. After restoring Angseth to moderately good health, she calmed her down and talked to her. After swapping a few short stories, the two headed out and found the GFS Tyre. All the marines were dead. Horribly dead.

But not all. The captain and another were still alive. After reviving the captain, Samus revived the other trooper, reading his diary while doing so.

_Last night at chow, Angseth starts talking about some bounty hunter and how she blew up a planet full of space pirates. I told her I didn't believe in fairy tales like that and she took it personal. I just find it hard to believe that one person took out an entire space pirate base, that's all. But if she wants to believe in this Samus, or Bigfoot, or Santa Claus, she can._

"Who are you?" said the marine after regaining consciousness. "Samus Aran," Samus replied. "Angseth here tells me you don't believe in me."

PFC Ivan Crany looked uncomfortable. "Er... well... I just had a hard time believing you could destroy a whole Pirate base so easily. Although, now that I've seen your suit, I'm beginning to think twice." "It's not always easy," Samus told him. "The Power Suit is an incredible device. But it's not as good as it was a few minutes ago."

Samus explained how she had lost her upgrades, then the captain, Andrew Exeter, told how he and his men had ended up on Aether. "While on patrol in the Dasha system, we engaged an unknown Space Pirate frigate," he explained. "The enemy frigate was crippled, and it crash landed on Aether. We followed the pirates, but our ship was damaged in a storm as we entered Aether's atmosphere." "As was mine," said Samus.

"Heavy magnetic activity during the storm disabled our comm. systems," the captain said. "Upon landing, we split into two units: one to set up an ops base and the other to repair the ship. Each unit was doing fine, no problems... until they appeared. These Dark Splinters."

Samus decided that they should continue to explore Aether and promised that she would protect them. "There may be a way for us to help you as well," said Exeter. "In that yellow crate there there's a standard missile launcher we use. It's probably pathetic compared to the one you lost, but..." Samus fired a charged shot at the crate, blowing it to pieces. "It'll do," she said.

The moment Samus grabbed the Missile Launcher, five Dark Splinters appeared. Samus scanned the critters and blasted them. "Back off! This is a foe beyond any of you! All you'll do is get in the way!"

For 20 furious seconds, the slack jawed troopers witnessed the most stunning display of combat power they had ever seen in their lives. With five missiles and charged shots Samus decimated the creatures. Every four seconds a Dark Splinter exploded in a cloud of purple guts. Finally, it was over.

Samus turned to the flabbergasted marines. "Any questions?" she said, and Crany knew she was talking to him. "No, Samus," he said. "You and all the stories about you are real." "What about you, captain?" "No questions," said Exeter, nodding at the remains of the Dark Splinters. "They got what they deserved." "What about you, Angseth? Is there anything in today's lesson that you find unpleasant?" "No Samus," she said. "You are the Hunter."

After promising to repair the GFS Tyre once her mission was complete, Samus led the three troopers to the next area. There they found a fourth survivor, who was playing dead after being attacked by war wasps. Together the five adventurers went thru a door to find an elevator. Samus scanned the panel to activate it, and the five people boarded the elevator and blasted off (it was a rocked propelled elevator) to the Great Temple.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

Samus and the gang arrived at the main temple room with three other doors on each side of the room. Four Splinter cocoons hung from the ceiling, surrounding what looked to be a giant one. Samus scanned it.

_Unable to scan object_. _Unknown energy field is scrambling the scan wave. Field is localized and holding at a steady level. Further investigation advised._

Samus stepped forward. Suddenly the four cocoons burst and four Splinters came down. A dark cloud sprang forth from the giant cocoon and engulfed the creatures, turning them into Dark Splinters. The marines hung back, deciding it was better to let Samus deal with them.

Samus destroyed the nasty bugs, then watched as an Alpha Splinter burst out of the giant cocoon. This was an alpha male of a Splinter nest, bigger and stronger than its brethren.

After scanning the thing, Samus pounded at, then saw another cloud come out of nowhere and engulf it, turning it into the Dark Alpha Splinter. Samus pounded it with missiles and charged shots till it died.

As the enemy's body melted away, a bright sphere of light emerged from it and hovered in front of Samus. Samus touched it, and it flew around the room and slammed into her chest. A warning message popped up. _System alert. Unknown item acquired. Alien technology has bonded to armor systems. Threat scan complete. No negative impact on suit performance_.

"That's odd," said Samus. "Oh well, maybe we'll find out what it is later."

The other doors were blocked, including the one they came thru, so they went thru the door in front of them and saw an elevator. It took them up to another door which led them into a room some sort of thing in the center with a bright sphere of light above it enclosed in a cagelike structure. As they came into the room, Samus saw a bizarre creature, very tall, who looked like a giant moth.

The creature stepped forward and spoke.

"Do not be afraid. I am U-Mos, sentinel of the Luminoth. Please listen, and hear of our world's peril."

U-Mos extended his hand and a hologram appeared showing Aether as seen from space.

"Long ago, a cosmic object struck our planet Aether, exploding with great force. A rift was torn in time and space and a strange power flowed over the world."

U-Mos changed the hologram into an image of two planets. "Where once there was one Aether, there were now two. One of light and one of shadow, each existing in its own dimension."

U-Mos raised his other hand and showed an image of the same type of creature a mob of whom had jumped on her after Prime had destroyed the crystal. "It was the end of peace on Aether, for a new race was born that day on the Dark World; one filled with hate and terrible power. They are the Ing."

U-Mos lowered his hands and continued his narrative.

"The Ing are creatures of shadow and darkness, knowing nothing of peace or mercy. For decades we stood against them yet now we lie on the edge of defeat."

"When Dark Aether was born, our planetary energy was divided: half for our world and half for theirs. Should one world seize control of the other world's half it will perish."

U-Mos extended his hand and showed an image of a blue ball of light identical to the one that had entered Samus's suit. "Before you arrived, the Ing had stolen a device from us. One that absorbs planetary energy. With it, they have weakened our planet to the verge of collapse.

U-Mos smiled and pointed at her. "But fortune smiled upon us this day, for the energy transfer module is now bonded to you. With it you can help us. Help us restore our world. You're our only hope, Samus."

What U-mos said next chilled the blood in her veins.

"Should we fall, the Ing will look to the stars for new planets to ravage and conquer. Your species could be their next victims."

For the first time the enormity of the situation struck Samus. If Aether fell and Dark Aether came into this dimension, the Ing would surely spread throughout the universe in search of more planets to conquer... and more life forms to extinguish. The stakes had never been higher.

"The Ing have taken our energy to three temples on Dark Aether. Find these temples, and transfer the energy from them to our own. I have updated your translator module. You can now access devices and doors coded with violet holograms. Search the areas now open to you."

Samus nodded in acknowledgement. "Prepare well for your journey. The Ing now know you possess the energy transfer module. They will try to recover it at all costs." U-mos raised his hands. "May the Light of Aether shine upon you."

Samus bid farewell to the marines and went back down and scanned the door with the violet hologram. She went back to the Temple Grounds and scanned the door at the industrial site.

_Beyond this door, the path to the Agon Wastes lies. Once fertile plains, now sands scorched and ruined by war. May life thrive there again one day._

Behind the door, Samus found a dead Luminoth. She scanned it.

_Final entry, warrior J-fme. Their army swells. Beasts and rogue machines join the ranks of the horde, all eager to bring death to the Luminoth. They came to fight me while they watched from safety. Cowardly mongrels! My only regret in death is that I did not live to see the day of their defeat. May it come soon!_

Samus went thru the door and grabbed a missile expansion, then took the elevator down to Agon Wastes.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

Samus was less than pleased at the sight. The Agon Wastes were a dry, cold desert, as far as the eye could see. It was anything but fun in the sun.

Samus went thru the mining plaza to the mining station. There she saw some familiar faces. "Pirate scum!" The Pirates noticed her and opened fire at once. Samus fired missiles and charged shots to exterminate them.

Moving on, Samus arrived at the lifeless dustbowl that was the Agon Temple. An Alpha Sanddigger rose from the ground and attacked. It wasn't long before a dark cloud sprang forth and an Ing possessed the dirty worm, turning it into the Bomb Guardian.

Samus blew off its head and retrieved the Morph Ball Bombs from his remains.

She then entered the Agon Energy controller. On the floor was a dead Luminoth. Above it hovered a yellow hologram of him.

"Welcome. I am I-sha, sentinel of this temple. This message survives my death, as guidance to one who would fight the Ing."

Samus listened intently, not wanting to miss anything that I-sha's spirit said. "A portal lies nearby. With it you can travel to this land's shadow. You must locate the dark temple, a twisted mockery of this sacred place. Inside you will find the energy controller you seek."

I-sha raised his hands, showing an image of three objects. "The temple gate is held fast by three locks. The keys for the locks are hidden throughout that dark land." Samus nodded in acknowledgement. "Your search will be perilous," said I-sha. "Even the very air of Dark Aether is poisonous, and can cripple the strongest of warriors."

I-sha showed a picture of the same kind of crystal on a pole that Dark Samus had destroyed. "During our struggles with the Ing, we placed a series of light crystals and light beacons throughout Dark Aether. They remain today. They generate safe zones to protect you from Dark Aether's atmosphere. Use them to your advantage. I have updated your translator module. You can now access devices and doors coded with amber holograms. Search the areas now open to you."

Samus left the room and gathered a few more items, then traveled to the portal I-sha had mentioned.

Space Pirates were there, but Samus blasted them. After getting the portal online, Samus went thru it to Dark Aether.

Samus looked out upon the dark and eerie landscape that was the Dark Agon Wastes. The sky was black with eerie purple clouds. Though there was light, from the clouds that glowed, it was a dead, sickly light. Dark Aether was worse that the impact crater on Tallon IV. It was the planet on the other side of death. It was Hell.

Samus moved out of the safe zone. Immediately her energy dropped at an enourmous rate. The atmosphere wreaked havoc on the Varia Suit. Samus quickly got under the bubble of a Light Crystal. Shooting the beacons nearby, Samus used their fields to cross the room safely.

In the Dueling Range, the same species of Ing that had jumped on her the first time, a Warrior Ing, attacked.

The vile creature blasted her with interdimensional energy and swiped at her with his forelegs. Samus was surprised to find that it took a lot of missiles and charged shots to bring him down. Conventional weapons barely hurt them. It got especially annoying when the Ing melted into a puddle of dark purple goo and oozed around, forcing her to aim manually. Eventually though, she did kill it, and afterwards headed to the Judgement Pit. There a large Ing with the ability to jump high attacked her. It was another on of the Ing who had stolen her upgrades. The Jump Guardian.

Samus fired countless missiles and charged shots. This fight was even longer and it didn't help that the boss put a shield around itself every time it jumped. But Samus had fought worse foes than this, and soon the Space Jump Boots were hers.

Samus went up to the Dark Agon Temple. As I-sha had said, the gate required three keys to unlock. Samus went into a nearby room and snagged the first key. No muss, no fuss.

Samus went back the way she had come and took the Portal back to Aether. From there it was into the Space Pirate fortress.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

In the narrow hallway leading to the entrance, a pair of Space Pirates were chumming around next to a pair of Phazon containers. Samus fired a missile at the containers, causing them to explode and instantly vaporize the Space Pirates. Samus laughed uproariously, then moved on.

In the mining station, a group of Pirates flew down on an assault skiff and attacked. Samus blasted them, then saw two more man Vigilance class turrets. Even they proved no match for her.

Inside the command center, the blast doors closed and several Pirates attacked. Samus killed them, then scanned the nearest computer.

_Sentry Report:_

_I grow weary of standing watch on a wasteland. The accursed marines are weak and vulnerable. Why do we not attack?! They owe us a fate-debt for the attack on our supply ship. Instead of settling accounts, we sit in this sand pit like a group of timid old spinsters. It is time for action!_

More computers revealed important data entries. For example:

_Science team detected the presence of Phazon in the Dasha system four cycles ago. High Command authorized the deployment of our force shortly thereafter. Our mission is to establish a base here and evaluate local Phazon resources. Since this world lies on the periphery of Galactic Federation territory, we are following health protocols at the highest level. A cadre of elite commandos has been dispatched to provide security as well. This operation is now under way._

Another computer said:

_Intelligence reports on the indigenous population of Aether are in error. This planet is not at peace, nor are the inhabitants docile. Evidence of a class 4 conflict is present here, although hostilities are at a minimal level now. Our base has suffered several raids by a strange type of shadowy creature. These raids have caused considerable damage, and we have requested more combat troops in response._

Another entry said:

_A spatial anomaly has been found within our base. We believe this rift in space-time leads to a parallel dimension of some type, but have been unable to interact with it thus far. A strange artifact was found lying near the anomaly as well; perhaps it is the key to accessing the anomaly. High Command is eager for reports on the relic. A new weapon for our arsenal is always welcome._

The next one said:

_The rift portal has been opened. The artifact weapon, dubbed the "Dark Beam by science team, provides the energy needed to open the portal, although for a limited time. Volunteer scouts have gone thru the portal and have returned with incredible news._

_The portal leads to a parallel version of Aether. This "Dark Aether" has suffered a global calamity, turning it into a toxic wasteland. It is the homeworld of the shadowy creatures who have been raiding our base in the last cycle. Most importantly, it is the prime location of Phazon in this sector. Extraction plans are being prepared. We will not be denied!_

The last entry said:

_Phazon extraction raids are under way on Dark Aether. The toxicity of the atmosphere has taken a toll on our workforce, as have the hostile natives of that world. Science Team is preparing survival gear to protect our work teams, and we have increased our security presence in extraction areas. Fortunately, High Command is sending more troops and supplies. Our resources are spread dangerously thin, and this mission cannot fail._

Samus went up to the security station and saw gates slam shut and Dark Samus land in the room and float away. Next to where she had been was another computer with a data entry.

_Another disaster. The transport carrying our troops and supplies has been shot down. It was engaged in orbit by a Federation vessel, which has landed near the alien temple. It's only a matter of time before the Marines attack. Survivors from the crash have made their way to our base. Here we shall make our stand._

_Another enemy. First the Shadowlings, then the Dark Hunter, and now the Galactic Federation Marine Corps. Perhaps fate will smile upon us before the world itself opens it's maw and swallows us._

Samus opened the blast doors, then went to a room with more Pirates. They attacked, but Samus was an old pro at dispatching them by now. Speaking of old, there were some old friends waiting for her on the upper level: Metroids. Samus scanned the wee beasties, then scanned another data entry.

_Samus Aran, the accursed Hunter, has arrived. The sudden arrival of the Hunter is strange enough, but her actions are stranger still. She does not seek our destruction, but our Phazon. With each raid, she steals Phazon ore, killing only those who attempt to deny her. What she needs it for, we do not know, though Science Team suspects she uses it to power her new armor suit. Dark in color, it is equipped with strange new weapons. The troops now call her the Dark Hunter. It is a fitting title._

After solving a puzzle in a room with crates, Samus found an energy station and recharged her health. There was also another entry.

_The Dark Hunter teleports into the base at will. Our security has proven next to useless against her. Her latest raid was disastrous. Not only did we lose more Phazon to her, but she also crippled the stealth field generator with her strange new weapons. We are exposed. Until the replacement generator arrives, we will be vulnerable to scans and detection. Fortunately, Aether is on the fringe of Federation space with luck, we will have the stealth field back in effect before being detected._

Samus blew up some turrets in the next room, them went into the Reactor. There she found who she was looking for.

The Metroid Prime hovered in the air, absorbing Phazon from the reactor. When she had drained the last of the Phazon, the Worm landed on the floor and walked to the side, suddenly catching sight of Samus. The two stared at each other for a moment.

"I've been waiting for you, Hatchling," the dark one said. "We meet again at last. When you beat me back on Tallon IV, I was but the learner. Now I am the master."

"Only a master of evil, Worm," said Samus. "You can't win. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

Prime raised her cannon and fired. Samus dodged and returned fire. The battle was on.

Samus fired missiles as the Metroid Prime floated in the air in front of her. Dark Samus responded with a scattershot version of the Power Beam. She also used Phazon-enhanced missiles. She could also raise a shield to protect herself, but only for a second.

"All you know is destruction; you will never build an empire!" said Samus

"I can see you haven't changed," said Prime. "You still sound like the apostle Paul." "Oh yeah?" Samus shot back. "Well you sound like the chief of the Sanhedrin!" And so on and so forth. Eventually, Prime changed her attack pattern and began firing much stronger missiles. She also raised herself up in the air and hurled herself at Samus, shattering the four pillars and setting the patches where they had been on fire. Samus waited until the blue shield vanished while charging up her Power Beam. The moment it did, she released the shot, hitting Dark Samus square in the chest. The Worm staggered backward and gave a cry of pain, blue tendrils coming out of her. She threw back her head and gave a scream, causing Samus to run for cover as a shockwave was unleashed, shattering the tanks of Phazon and sending thousands of shards of glass into the air. The Dark Hunter fell on the floor and evaporated into millions of blue Phazon particles. Samus landed on the floor and breathed a sigh of relief. "That went far better than I expected," she said.

Samus scanned the Phazon and went into a nearby room, where the Dark Beam was being held. Samus picked it up. Now she had a powerful weapon with which to fight the Pirates and other mortal enemies, although the Ing would require a weapon that used Light energy.

Samus saw a computer terminal nearby and scanned it.

_The local war has escalated in intensity. The shadowlings from Dark Aether have launched an offensive. The assault seems concentrated on a central network of buildings atop a mountain; a base perhaps. Strangely, this attack coincides with a rise in planetary instability. Perhaps these shadow creatures are using a new weapons system._

_The shadowlings must believe us to be foes, for they have hit our base numerous times as well. We are holding, but attrition is taking it's toll on our troops and resources. Reinforcements are en route. We can only wait and defend what is ours._

Samus went into the Dark World and got the Light Beam, a weapon that used Light energy that could decimate the Ing. She used it to recover the remaining two keys to the Dark Agon Temple, then headed back to the Light World to get some expansions. On the upper level of the mining station, she found a computer and scanned it.

_Technician Report_

_The wind generators are online. I've managed to build a modest supply of reserve power, but I doubt it will last. All of these trips to the Dark World are taking a huge toll on the energy supply. We'll see how they feel about these stupid expeditions when the cooling system shuts off and the power latrines go offline._

Another computer revealed the last data entry.

_Another Hunter, wearing the traditional colors of Samus Aran, made planet fall today. Horrific as it may sound, there are two of them now. We are bracing for a new assault._

_This dire turn of events may bear some good will. One of our scouts in Dark Aether saw a curious encounter. The Dark Hunter attacked the one clad as Samus near a Phazon site. Perhaps they are not allies… but foes. Perhaps we can forge an alliance with the Dark Hunter: an exchange, Phazon for the head of our common enemy._

Samus went back to the Dark World and headed toward the Temple to unlock the door and seize the energy within.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

Samus unlocked the door and landed on the floor of the temple. Three huge worms, the Amorbis, woke up and dove into the sand, sending a spume of dust in front of a startled Samus.

Samus watched as one of the huge worms burst out of the dirt, trying to body slam her. Samus leapt out of the way. When he did it again, Samus charged the Light Beam and shot him in midair. The thing gave a scream of pain and burrowed under the sand. A second later it came up and latched onto the sphere in the center of the arena, turning into a Dark Amorbis.

Samus blew the blade-like face guard off the worm's face, causing the creature to open it's mouth. Samus rolled into the Morph Ball and got inside. When the creature tried to swallow her, she laid three bombs.

The vile thing recoiled, spitting her out and coughing up blood. As samus resumed her normal bipedal form, it dove beneath the sand.

Samus used the same strategy on the Amorbis and another one, and again after that, with all three of them. When three turned dark and latched onto the sphere, they joined their heads and fired huge beams of light across the battlefield.

At last, all but one were dead. Samus tricked it into eating her, then laid the bombs. The thing recoiled, screaming even more harshly, spitting her out, then falling to the ground. Samus watched in disgust as the thing rolled and writhed on the ground for several minutes, gruesomely reluctant to surrender it's primeval life force. Finally it was still, and the red light faded from its three eyes. The last Amorbis crumbled into dust and was blown away on the wind. Then without warning, the sphere exploded.

Samus stared in wonder and joy at the object that had been inside of it.

Samus reached out and touched the object, and it vanished and lifted her into the air, where her suit exploded into a bright yellow light far brighter than any star. After several seconds, the light vanished and Samus dropped to the ground with a muffled thud… wearing the Dark Suit.

With the Dark Suit on, the atmosphere of Dark Aether did less damage to her, enabling her to rely less on crystals and beacons for protection.

Samus went into the dark energy controller and used the ETM to drain the energy from the Dark Agon Wastes. As she did so, the clouds in the sky turned from healthy purple to a bleak red. Lighting flashed in the sky, and the energy was drained.

Samus returned the energy to the Agon Energy Controller, then watched as the sky over the Agon Wastes brightened. As the sun shone down, Samus left the Agon Wastes and headed back to the Great Temple to get her next assignment.

"I thank you for restoring energy to the temple of Agon." U-mos was clearly pleased. "Your valor honors the Luminoth: those who have passed, and those who remain, here under my protection as they sleep in deep stasis."

Samus nodded in acknowledgement. "Be on guard, for the Ing do not suffer defeat lightly. They will surely seek revenge for your actions. With the energy lost from the desert region, they will increase their efforts in other lands."

U-mos raised his hands, showing pictures of multiple Ings. "I have already detected unusual amounts of Ing activity in the Torvus sector. The enemy is on the move."

"Heh," Samus said. "The swamplands of Torvus are treacherous, and can hinder you considerably. Bear this in mind as you move thru the bog." U-mos raised his hands. "May the Light of Aether serve you well."

Samus scanned the door in the main lobby that had an amber hologram. _Pathway to Torvus. Beyond the pathway to Torvus sector lies._ Samus went thru the door and took the lift down to the temple grounds. After taking a detour into the Dark World, Samus came to the path of eyes. Nearby was another door with an amber hologram.

_Beyond this door, the path to the Torvus Bog lies. A verdant land, ravaged by a great deluge and the folly of battle. We honor the life that remains._

Samus took the elevator beyond to Torvus Bog.

_When you think of a bog, you might imagine friendly alligators cavorting in the sunshine, trading warm hellos with the locals. Well that's not what bogs are like at all. Load up on that arm cannon and get ready to blast anything that moves._

_-Metroid Prime 2 Echoes: the Official Guide from Nintendo Power- _


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6

Samus looked out upon the bleak, rainy landscape of Torvus Bog. With torrential rains and a dark sky, and temperatures in the mid-40s, Torvus was anything but the great outdoors. Next to a door to an energy station, Samus saw another dead Luminoth, and scanned it.

_They came to the lagoon in the night, delivering true deathblows before I could detect them. As my life faded, I sent a call to the cadre to warn of this surprise attack. May they find my key, and dispatch the Ing who killed me. Only then will my final rest be peaceful._

Samus refilled her energy and headed to Forgotten Bridge. After rotating it via a bomb slot in the Dark World, which was far more terrible and bleaker than the Light Torvus Bog, Samus returned and headed to the Temple. Along the way, she found creatures called Grenchlers, and positively identified them as the dead bioforms she had seen in the GF hive chambers.

If Samus was expecting a beautiful sight, she was disappointed. The Space Pirates were here to mess things up a bit.

The pirates charged. "Prepare to die, Hunter!" said one. The garbled Basic he spoke made Samus feel sick. "Shut up!" she said, charging the Dark Beam and releasing it in his face. The huge glob of purple acid ate thru his flesh and bones, leaving nothing left of him.

Samus found out that while the Dark Beam was the best weapon against Pirates, the Light Beam was pretty good to, since it could set them on fire. Sadly, it was nowhere near as powerful as the Plasma Beam from her last adventure.

After eliminating the Pirates, Samus grabbed the Super Missile and went into the Torvus energy controller.

There she saw a dead Luminoth and scanned him. _Bioscan complete. Subject Luminoth expired 1.5 decacycles ago. In addition to heavy combat damage, subject shows signs of multiple Ing possession attempts: all failed. Resisting these assaults would require incredible stamina and psychic durability._

Samus watched as the spirit of the Luminoth appeared before her.

"Another great warrior comes to the temple of Torvus. May you succeed where I failed. I am A-voq, last sentinel of the Torvus temple. Listen to me now."

Samus listened intently. "As you can see, this temple has been crippled by the ravages of war. While the main chamber has been mostly preserved, the remainder of the temple has been flooded. You must go into this area to find the keys you need to enter the Dark Temple."

Samus nodded in acknowledgement. "The waters of Dark Aether are foul and venomous. Avoid them if you can."

A-voq straightened. "The time for talk is over. Good luck, and may the Light of Aether show you the way!"

Samus went into the Dark World and came to a room with a half-pipe. Standing in the half-pipe was a huge Ing identical to the Jump Guardian in appearance. When it caught sight of Samus, it transformed and shot into a tunnel leading into an arena. Samus knew it was the Boost Guardian.

Samus rolled into the tunnel and transformed. As the Ing swiped at her head, Samus released a Super Missile straingt in his face. The emeny screamed and transformed into the Boost Ball. It then rocketed around the room, smashing into one of the pillars. Samus transformed and dropped bombs on the Guardian, which was now a puddle. The enemy turned into a ball and rocketed around some more, destroying another pillar in the process and turning into goo. Samus dropped more bombs, causing him to resume his normal form. Samus fired more Super Missiles and charged Light Beam shots. The Boost Guardian screamed, and one more round commenced. There were no crystals or beacons, so Samus had to rely on Inglets for energy. Finally, Samus charged the Light Beam and released it at point blank range, saying, "That's for stealing my Boost Ball!"

The Ing screamed and dropped dead. It melted away, revealing the Boost Ball. Now Samus could boost up half-pipes and use Spinners, and also gain speed.

Samus got the first key in the half-pipe and went back to the Light World. Suddenly U-mos called. "Samus, I have a new missile upgrade ready for you that I think you're going to like. Go back to the Temple Grounds and use the half-pipe to enter the Hall of Honored Dead."

Samus went there and got the Seeker Missile Launcher. With this baby she could use missiles to lock onto up to five targets at once, or she could unleash up to five missiles on a single hapless foe.

Samus refilled at her ship, scanning another dead Luminoth in the process.

_That last hit breached my armor. The poison spreads. Though I have found the key, it is too late for me. Soon my light will fail. They know I am here. They will come tothis site to plunder the key. My last stand shall be here. I only hope I have the strength to fight when they arrive._

Samus went back to the GF base and fought a Dark Missile Trooper, then went back to Torvus Bog and headed for the Temple, where she got on an elevator that took her down to Hydrodynamo Station.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7

The Hydrodynamo Station area was a calm, peaceful indoor area filled entirely with water. Samus jumped into the water and scanned the Bloggs, then unlocked one of three clamps, causing a ramp to extend leading up to a purple door. Samus blasted the lock with the Seeker Missile Launcher, then went thru the door.

A small blue orb darted past her and thru the other door, leaving Phazon particles in its wake. In the training chamber, it manifested itself as Dark Samus. The Worm gave a hideous ghoulish laugh, then vanished.

Ignoring the sense of terror than gnawed at her stomach, Samus dove into the water and went to the catacombs. There she found the body of a Luminoth warrior, G-sgch, and scanned it.

_What craven savages are the Ing! Trapped in the catacombs with no chance of rescue, I fought them to the last. I watched them feed upon their dead. I heard them pressing the lesser of their number into the front ranks, that my blasts would take them. At least their leader stood against me in battle. He was a foe worthy of a Luminoth warrior._

After unlocking the other clamps, Samus proceeded to the lower room and grabbed the Gravity Boost. This allowed her to float in deep water and contained Gravity Suit technology.

The moment she stepped outside the room, a door opened and the Alpha Blogg came roaring to attack.

Samus waited until the vile creature dived toward her and its moth was open before releasing a super missile into its throat. Although it was a chore because of the slight delay in firing, Samus kept going until one last super missile tore the beast into shreds.

Samus picked up the second temple key in the Dark World via a portal nearby, then went to the Sacrificial Chamber. There, the Grapple Guardian was waiting for her.

Basically a Dark Alpha Grenchler, the Grapple Guardian was tough beast. When Samus made it angry by shooting it's eye, it tried to fire the Grapple Beam at her. Samus dodged faster than it could see, and it ended up latching onto one of the pillars instead. While it tried to pull away, Samus maneuvered around to his behind and fired a Super Missile at his tail before he could break free. Finally the creature broke free an d turned around to confront Samus. Samus simply repeated the process of tricking the dumb thing several times until it's tail was blown off. After that, the Guardian erected a shield out of Grapple energy, and the pillars became demagnetized, so Samus couldn't use the pillar tether trick. Instead she switched to the Light Beam and shot it's eye, then turned and blasted it's tail. A few hits killed it and got Samus the Grapple Beam.

Samus went back to the light world and took a short trip to the Agon wastes to get the Dark Beam charge combo, the Darkburst, then snagged the last key and went thru the portal in Forgotten Bridge. From there, she picked up another BA expansion, and an energy tank at a room next to the temple. Another room held an ammo station, a welcome relief to Samus. After refilling her ammo, and having previously refilled her energy at a nearby station, Samus put the keys into place.

Toxic water gushed out of nearby vents, flooding the room and lifting the floor, which was actually a large floating platform. The toxic lake at which it rested in the center of grew higher and higher, almost to the top of the temple. Finally it stopped. Samus turned around and saw a large cocoon where the door to the energy controller should've been. She scanned it.

_Bioscan complete. Target is a cocoon. A field of dark energy is disrupting deep scanning ability: unable to scan biform within cocoon. Energy may be mutating the biform, as there are sings of extreme growth present in the cocoon's structure._

Samus blasted the cocoon supports, then watched as it fell into the water and broke in half. Both halves sank to the bottom of the lake.

Samus could hear strange noises from below her in the water. "I've got a bad feeling about this," she muttered. Suddenly the surface of the water broke and with a splash, the king of Dark Torvus Bog roared to the attack.

Samus scanned it. _Morphology: Chyyka Larva. Large infant biform. Weak spot has been detected: the lower belly. Target this spot to damage the creature. This is an exceptional biform with both a Dark and Light nature._

Samus blasted the nearby Dark Shredders, then waited until the Larva leaped out of the water. Samus fired a charged Light Beam shot at him before he crashed back into the water. She repeated the process until the creature jumped onto the platform and shot out a long, sticky tongue. Samus dodged and fired several charged Light Beam shots into it's face. Finally, it groaned and fell backward into the water. The lake lowered by about a third, revealing another cocoon, and the platform broke up. "I've got a _really_ bad feeling about this," said Samus. Sure enough, the cocoon blew up and the adult Chyyka flew out and attacked.

Samus gasped. Whereas the larva had been a slimy, repulsive creature, the adult was a beautiful dragonfly. Samus scanned it. _Morphology: Chyyka Adult. This Light creature can be stunned, especially by Dark energy. When stunned, four weak spots will appear on the wings. Destroy them to weaken the enemy._

It proved tough to hit the Chyyka with the Dark Beam, so she used the less effective Power Beam. When the creature was stunned, it hung suspended in the air, and Samus used a floating grapple point to swing to another piece of the platform, then fired a Super Missile at one of the wings. The Chyyka screamed and turned toward Samus, blasting her with a spume of toxic water. Samus repeated the process with the remaining three wings. When the final wing was damaged, the Chyyka fell into the water. Seconds later, it rose into the air, purple and with a swollen eggsac. The Dark Chyyka.

Samus switched to the Light Beam and fired charged shots at the eggsac. This prompted the boss to release a swarm of it's offspring, the Chyyklings. Rather than killing them one at a time, Samus used the Darkburst, opening a dimensional rift that sucked enemies inside. She blasted them all, and got a ton of Light Beam ammo in the process.

After hitting the Dark Chyyka a few more times with a charged Light Beam, it turned back into a normal Chyyka, forcing Samus to shoot the wings again. After that it energized itself again with Dark energy, only this time, it didn't have time to release it's offspring. A few charged Light Beam shots caused the creature to scream, convulse in the air, and die, plummeting down into the water. The lake drained away completely, revealing the corpse on the floor of the temple along with the Dark Visor.

Samus used the Dark Visor to see the invisible platforms leading up to the door to the Dark energy controller. Samus drained the energy, then hightailed it back to the Light World. The Dark Visor was a better version of the X-ray Visor from Tallon IV, and even let her see those annoying Hunter Ing and Dark Pirate Commandos. It was payback time!

Samus went to the Torvus energy controller in the temple and refilled the energy. It was incredible! The rain stopped, the clouds vanished, and the sun came out and flooded the whole region and brilliant light. It was a sacred moment, as if the storm clouds of war were receding and the Almighty was shedding his grace upon Samus and the planet. Samus thanked Him for giving her the strength to restore the bog to it's former glory.

With the Chyyka's reign of terror at an end, Samus was free to return to the Great Temple and talk to U-mos to get her next assignment. (Actually, it wasn't much of a reign of terror. The thing was sleeping in a cocoon, after all!)

U-mos was definitely pleased. "The temple of Torvus shines with energy once more. Only one temple remains without the Light of Aether."

U-mos showed her a hologram of her next destination. "You must travel to our fortress, high in the cliffs. Inside is the last energy controller." He showed her an image of a robot. "Be cautious in the fortress. This place was once guarded by machines of our creation, but now they are corrupted slaves of the Ing. They will not see you as a friend." U-mos raised his hands. "Our goal draws ever closer. Let the Light of Aether be your guide. You have weakened the enemy forces in Torvus. The Ing now fear and loathe your name. Do not relent. Press on! Show the darklings in Sanctuary no quarter!"

Samus went back to the GFMC compound and scanned a gate with an emerald hologram.

_Beyond this door, the path to Sanctuary Fortress lies. Once a place of peaceful residence, now a fortress for those who make war. May it find tranquility once more._

Samus went thru the door to the elevator beyond and took it down to Sanctuary Fortress.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8

Samus found herself in a quiet elevator room with a glass floor, thru which she could see the inner workings of the elevator. Two dead Luminoth were lying on either side of the door. Samus scanned the first one. _Bioscan complete. Luminoth subject expired 1.5 decacycles ago. No evidence of Ing posession present. Wounds on subject were of Luminoth origin, not Ing. Traces of machine fluid suggests an attack by a mechanoid._

Samus then scanned the other body. _Bioscan complete. Luminoth subject expired 1.5 decacycles ago. Fatal wounds on subject appear to have been caused by Luminoth heavy weapon systems._

Finally, Samus scanned the statue over the door. _Structural analysis complete. This is a statue of E-btr, the founder of Sanctuary. He lived for nearly five centicycles and died in hand-to-hand combat during the first Ing attacks._

Samus went thru the hallway on the other side of the door. Once out, she looked in awe at the wondrous architecture of Sanctuary Fortress. The sky was pitch black. A bridge spanned the chasm in front of her, with the ground glowing bright green several thousand feet below.

Samus no sooner had gone across the bridge when several Pirate Commandos attacked. Samus wiped them out with the Darkburst despite it's high ammo cost. One shot turned two of them into swiss cheese instantly. Samus grinned from ear to ear.

Samus moved on to Reactor Access. There she switched to the Dark Visor and used the Seeker Missile Launcher to unlock the door. As the platform swung down, Samus switched back to the combat visor and saw a strange entity. She scanned it. _Morphology: Rezbit. Highly aggressive mechanoid. Blue force shield and virus delivery system makes target very dangerous._

Samus fired a charged Dark Beam shot at the enemy before it even saw her, then blasted it with a missile. "So much for very dangerous," she said.

In the reactor core, Samus saw a Quad. These were robots with two parts: a head and a body. Samus found it was best to destroy the head with a super missile first. Then she had to wait until the body started to spin toward her, then roll into a ball and boost into the Quad while it was doing so. This caused a red light to appear. Samus quickly boosted into the red light, killing the Quad.

After a brief journey thru the Dark World via the portal in the Hall of Combat Mastery, Samus went to the main gyro chamber. Solving a puzzle there, she went into Sanctuary Temple. There, an Ing came and possessed two Quads, turning them into Dark Quads. During the assault on Sanctuary, the Ing discovered they could possess and control artificially intelligent machines as well as living beings. Samus scanned the body and head of one of the Dark Quads, then disposed of them in pretty much the same way as the normal ones. Climbing the various platforms, she grappled across the gap into the energy controller.

Samus saw yet another dead Luminoth and scanned him. _Bioscan complete. Luminoth subject expired 1.5 decacycles ago. Subject has sustained fatal wounds from Luminoth assault and defense systems as well as rogue combat drones. It took more than the Ing to defeat this warrior._ Samus watched as the dead Luminoth's spirit rose before her.

"Hear the words of O-Lir, last sentinel of the fortress temple. May they serve you well."

O-Lir turned and looked past his shoulder. "This used to be a great fortress, a safe haven for our people during the war. It also holds portals to the Ing Hive, the heart of their dark tribe." he showed a hologram of a Quad. "During the war, I built a number of mechanical sentinels to join me gin battle. They were mad e to fight the Ing, and fight them they did, for a tome. One by one the Ing corrupted them. Now they attacked with no mercy. Many went to Dark Aether with their Ing masters."

The hologram vanished and O-Lir turned to face Samus. "Expect them while you are in the Hive. The Ing like to use them as guards. You must be vigilant. In all of our battles, the Hive has never fallen. I have updated your translator module. You can now access devices and doors coded with cobalt holograms. Search the areas now opened to you."

The Luminoth looked sadly at his own body on the floor. "If only I could join you… redeem my fallen honor in battle. But my time has passed." He raised his hands. "May the Light of Aether serve you well!"

Samus went to Dynamo Works. She saw a small creature rolling around behind the glass and scanned it. It was the Spider Guardian. Samus rolled thru the tunnel and dropped down to fight it.

The only way to damage the boss was to make it run into the electrical pylons. This Samus did by activating various bomb slots. There was usually one slot per stage, but on the final stage there were four. The battle was more like a puzzle than a fight, and it was very difficult. Finally however, the darkling pillbug died and the Spider Ball was hers. Now she could use the magnetic tracks.

Nearby Samus saw another dead Luminoth and scanned him.

_Let this be the final testament of the warrior C-rch. I have no more shells for my weapons. For the enemy I have nought but the blade and fist. Let them come. They wait in the works, hissing and slithering like beasts. Let them. When my war cry comes, there shall be a dread, final reckoning. Come forth, hated enemy! Let their be an end!_

Samus went back to the fortress entrance. There, who should drop onto the bridge but… "Prime," Samus growled. The Worm stared at her, then raised her arms. With a deafening report, the entire metal bridge exploded. Pieces of it fell into the chasm below, and Dark Samus vanished. "What?!" Samus said. "Where did she get such power?!" One thing was certain: her next fight with Prime was going to be really tough.

Suddenly, Samus got an incoming transmission. It was U-mos. "Samus, my scans show that your Power Bombs are in the same place where you fought the Alpha Blogg, only in the Dark World. You'll have to go back to the bog to get it."

After crossing the chasm using the magnetic tracks, wich were all that was left of the bridge, Samus traveled all the way back to Torvus Bog and from there to the Hydrodynamo area. Going back to where she had killed the Alpha Blogg, Samus used a spider track to reach a portal, and the Dark Beam to use it.

In the Dark World, Samus saw something on the top of the huge pillar and scanned it.

_Morphology: Power Bomb Guardian. The energy of the Power Bomb has made it nearly invulnerable. Only massive kinetic damage will damage this enemy._

As it turned out, "massive kinetic damage" really meant "massive crushing damage". For in order to kill this thing, Samus had to activate four bomb slots on the wall, which in turn would remove the supports to a massive iron structure positioned right above the boss. When that was done, Samus saw it come down and crush the dark plant to death. Grabbing the Power Bombs, she hightailed it out of the Dark World and the bog. Stopping only to grab the Light Beam charge combo, the Sunburst, from the Grand Windchamber in the Temple Grounds, Samus went back to Sanctuary. At the entrance, she saw another dead Luminoth and scanned him.

_A-kul tried to send me back to Aether, that I might get reinforcements. Both cadres have been attacked, devastated. The Ing follwed me. They came, wearing the skin of beasts. I gave them a good fight, yet I have failed. May I redeem my honor in the next life. Here at the fortress entrance, I breathe my last._

In Reactor Access, Samus saw previously dormant enemies come to life. They were the biggest robots yet: Ingsmashers.

Samus disabled their shields with beams of opposite polarity, then used Power Bombs to vape them. Moving on to the Main Gyro Chamber, Samus solved a puzzle to get into the next room.

In the next room, Samus watched thru a window as Dark Samus destroyed a group of Dark Pirate Troopers like they were tissue paper. She swallowed hard and went into the next room for the confrontation.

Dark Samus whirled around and fired. Samus dodged. Prime activated a nearby panel and the elevator carried them up. As Samus watched, Dark Samus went into Morph Ball form for the first time, slamming into her. Transforming, she fired her beam, but Samus responded with a Super Missile in her face. One more and the elevator took them up to the summit of the fortress. As Samus aimed her arm cannon, the Metroid Prime gave her yet another ghoulish laugh.

It was a fierce, fierce battle. Prime raised herself into the air and hurled herself at Samus many times, destroying many of the pillars in the room and sending shards of metal flying everywhere. She also fired much stronger missiles that had the same effect. She would also dissapear for a few minutes on occasion, forcing Samus to use the Dark Visor. The Worm also used the Morph Ball to wreak havoc on their surroundings.

Samus and Prime fought each other with such an intensity in fact, that it would've destroyed any other combatant in the galaxy.

Finally, one last Super missile sent Prime staggering backward. Tendrils of blue light crackled from her body and she screamed. Turning away, she fired at a window, destroying it. As Samus ran toward her, she hurled herself off the edge into the chasm below.

Samus stepped onto the ledge beyond the window and walked aroud to a portal. Using it, she spun a spinner to move a Spider Ball track in the Dark World, which she then used to get onto another legde with a portal. Samus used the portal to get to the same ledge in the Light World. Double jumping onto the opposite ledge, Samus saw the Echo Visor and grabbed it. The Echo Visor worked much like the sonar of a dolphin or a bat, allowing her to see sound. Samus used it to reactivate the elevator, then took it back down to the room she had come from.

Traveling across Sanctuary Fortress, using a series of portals along the way, Samus made her way to the Vault and got the Screw Attack. With this awesome upgrade, she was able to fly thru the air and destroy anything that touched her.

After retrieving the three Hive Temple keys, Samus unlocked the door to the Hive Temple and stepped in. There, without the aid of crystals or beacons, she would fight her toughest enemy yet.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 9

Samus stared at the five story tall robot. It was silent, obviously deactivated. Then Samus noticed several Ing in puddle form oozing up the legs of the mechanoid. The ooze sank into the metal, and the huge robot came to life with a grunt.

Samus scanned it. _Morphology: Quadraxis. Rogue combat drone. Main body is impervious to attack. Knee and foot joints are vulnerable._

_The Quadraxis unit went rogue and entered the service of the Ing. Its primary weapon fires matter-antimatter blasts. While the main body is impervious to assault, the knee and foot joints are vulnerable. Damaging these joints will eventually render it immobile._

Samus raised the arm cannon and prepared to fight.

She saw at once that one of the kneecaps on this huge bucket of bolts had a rim that was glowing blue. Samus had years of experience in this sort of thing, and she knew a weak point when she saw one. The kneecap alone was so huge however, that the only weapon that could feasibly damage it was the Super Missile. Samus fired one at the kneecap. The kneecap was damaged, but not destroyed. Samus knew it would take another one to destroy the kneecap.

She also knew there was a strong possibility that Quadraxis would speed up as she blew up each joint, which would make the last one fairly hard to hit. So she hit each knee once with a super missile before destroying a single one, that way she would have to hit the other ones only once. Waiting until one of the kneecaps glowed blue, she fired a super missile. It was very satisfying to see the huge mechanoid double over as it's knee exploded. But the party wasn't over yet. As Samus watched, Quadraxis used a spin attack identical to the ones the Quads used. This completely unnerved her. Few things are as terrifying as having a five hundred foot tall robot spinning toward you in a vortex. Desperate, Samus fired a charged Power Beam at his feet, disrupting the spin. Quadraxis fired some missiles and a beam, then used a laser targeting system to lock on. Samus was prepared and transformed, boosting away from the lock. Resuming normal form, Samus fired a super missile at a blue glowing kneecap, destroying it. She repeated the process with the remaining two.

When all four kneecaps were destroyed, the head of Quadraxis separated from the body. Samus scanned them both and found that the head was shielded. This shield was maintained by the body, which was using sonic waves to guide the head module in battle. Samus switched to the Echo Visor and targeted the antenna on the body. She fired several super missiles at it, causing it to retract, stunning the head. Samus scanned the head and found that it was trying to restore it's tactical link to the main body via antennas on it. Samus used the Echo Visor to see the antennas on the head, then as the head floated motionless, she used the Sunburst to destroy one of them. This caused the head to summon a Dark Quad, which Samus easily slew. However, it distracted her long enough for the head to restore it's link to the main body.

Not one to fret, Samus simply stitched to the Dark Visor to see the antenna on the body again, only this time, she jumped up on the foot of one of the legs and screw attacked the antenna, retracting it instantly. Samus used the Echo Visor to see the remaining antennas on the head, but this time used two super missiles to destroy the next antenna, for the Sunburst was unreliable and traveled slowly. This time Quadraxis summoned two Dark Quads, but they didn't last any longer than the first. Samus repeated the above process until the last antenna on the head was destroyed.

The glass cover on the head exploded, and the head careened around, smashing the glass on the legs, revealing Spider Ball tracks. Samus scanned the head and found that the link to the main body was severed. Spider Ball travel was possible on the surface of the head. Two weak points were detected on the head. Samus acted fast. Stunning the head with the Darkburst, Samus watched for a moment to see which way it drifted. She transformed and boosted to the next leg it would pass, Spider Balling up the track and boosting onto the head as it passed. Rolling into one of the holes in the head, Samus laid three bombs.

BANG! The head lurched sideways and the whole left side of it burst into flame. Samus fell off the head and transformed. The head continued attacking, even with fire pouring out of it's left side. Samus stunned it again, watched to see which way it drifted, transformed and boosted to the next leg it would pass, crawled up the track and boosted onto the passing head, rolled into the second hole, and dropped three more bombs.

The other side of the head exploded, fire pouring out of it. The head started to fall, small explosions popping out of it. Samus transformed and jumped off the head, landing safely on the ground. The head crashed to the floor of the temple and violently exploded, filling the whole temple with white smoke. When the smoke cleared, Samus turned and saw the weapon Quadraxis had been using against her. The last and greatest beam weapon. The Annihilator Beam.

The moment Samus picked it up, the body of Quadraxis exploded, causing a platform to raise itself up to the level of the door to the next room.

Samus went into the next room and performed a familiar ritual: she took the energy from the Hive Energy Controller. Avoiding the Ingstorms in Temple Security Access, Samus used a portal nearby to return to the Light World. After getting a missile expansion, Samus returned to the temple to restore the energy.

The energy was restored and the black sky over Sanctuary flooded with light. At last, the energy from all three temples was returned!

Samus took a brief detour in the Agon Wastes to get the Annihilator Beam charge combo, the Sonic Boom. She then hightailed it to the Great Temple to get her next assignment from U-mos.

"The Light of Aether shines from all three temples once more." U-mos was clearly pleased. "And yet Dark Aether remains. One energy controller shines in the darkness, barely sustaining the world."

U-mos looked straight at Samus. The Sky Temple, dark shadow of this hallowed place, holds the final energy controller. The greatest and most powerful beast of the Ing keeps guard over what you seek. The ten keys to the Sky Temple have been hidden throughout Dark Aether. Finding them will be perilous, but…"

Samus stared back at him. "I offer you this blessed suit of armor, energized by the Light of Aether itself. It's power will help you reach these final keys. May it serve you well in the darkness."

The Main Energy Controller split into three parts. In between these parts, a silver symbol appeared. Samus touched it. It vanished. Points of light streamed down from the sphere of energy. The flow grew more intense until Samus was in the center of a ring of light. The tendrils grew closer and closer together until they met on Samus.

There was a blinding flash. The whole room was filled with light. Beams of light poured from certain places on Samus's suit. When the light faded, Samus looked in a mirror and beheld the results.

It was the perfect marriage of Chozo and Luminoth battle suit technology. Making the wearer immune to not only the atmosphere of Dark Aether, but the toxic water and Ingstorms as well. Enabling her to travel on beams of light. And last, but most certainly not least, it was a blinding silver and white, unquestionably the pimpiest outfit in the cosmos, the echoes of which are with us today: the Light Suit.

Samus headed down to the Torvus sector, using the portal that she had used to get to the Path of Eyes since she hadn't had the Super Missile. This time however, instead of going into the abandoned base, she went into the other room, where two Hunter Ing attacked.

Samus fired the Annihilator Beam at the beacon nearby, turning it into a Super Beacon. When charged with Light and Dark energy at once, the crystal or beacon acted as a drug for the Ing. They were compelled to approach it, even though it would vaporize them. Samus laughed as the Hunter Ing killed themselves. "The surprise is mine, bucketheads!"

Samus went from there to the Sky Temple Gateway. There she saw a sobering sight. Another dead Luminoth rested against one of the pillars. Samus scanned him.

_Soon I shall pass to final rest. My key is in place. Thru my spiritual link to the others, I know where their bodies lie. I shall leave this knowledge, that their last location in the Dark World may be known. May this knowledge lead our warriors to the Sky Temple Keys._

_The final time draws near. Hear the words of A-kul, she they call Champion of Aether. Know that my warriors fought and died with uncommon valor. Do not look unkindly upon their failure, for they died to save us all._

Samus scanned the first pillar. _The key of A-kul has been placed, it's lock forever open. May the Light of Aether shine upon our enemies forever!_

Samus scanned the remaining pillars for clues. _Hear the words of A-kul, that you may find a key lost to our cause._

_Mighty J-fme. In the last, what did you see? Was it one of our gates closing, sealing the scorched land from our holy ground?_

_Fearless M-dhe. The one who shall move the pillar of holy ground shall see your soulless body._

_Brave S-dly. Beside the marsh of a raining land, she laid her body forever._

_Noble J-stl. Lost his soul before a fortress in the scorched land._

_Gallant B-stl. She lies deep in a fortress of dry land._

_Gentle G-sch. With a bearer pod he sleeps in a flooded temple._

_Judicious C-rch. In a small corridor within the depths of a high fortress he lies silently._

_Steadfast D-stl. Who shall disturb you among the trees of holy ground?_

_Loyal S-jrs. He no longer breathes, looking down at the great bridge of a holy fortress._

Samus retrieved M-dhe's key, then went back to the Light World and found D-stl's body. She scanned it.

_It is inside me. I feel it clawing at my will, tearing at my thoughts. It moves me against my will, to this cavern. Here it will end. I do not want this, do not want my body to become a weapon for the Ing within me. It hates. It demands obedience. I shall fight to the end. I shall self-terminate before I will be a pawn of a filthy Ing._

Samus mad the long journey across Aether and Dark Aether to gather the remaining keys. It was difficult, but she did it. Finally, she reunited them at the Gateway and entered the Sky Temple.

In the temple, Samus heard a terrible squealing noise. She looked up and saw a huge puddle on the ceiling. Tentacles emerged from it, grabbing the sphere of energy and dragging it thru the ceiling. Samus headed up to the final battle.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 10

Samus entered the Sanctum.

Landing on the floor, she saw the sphere of energy. Beneath it was a huge, huge puddle. Samus stepped forward. Immediately, several tentacles blocked her, then retracted. Seconds later, a purple monstrosity materialized over the energy sphere. It was the Emperor Ing.

Samus scanned it's body. _Morphology: Emperor Ing Body. Ruler of the Ing Horde. Bioscans indicate that this is the eldest, strongest Ing in the horde, the alpha and the omega. It has molded itself around the precious energy controller and will defend it to the death, using it's own body as a shield and a weapon. Scans indicate that Phazon has mutated the Emperor Ing. Apparently, this power is not enough for the creature, as it is now siphoning energy form the final energy controller._

Samus scanned the head next. _Morphology: Emperor Ing Head. Ruler of the Ing Horde. Target will generate tentacles to defend itself. Destroy the tentacles to weaken the creature and it's defenses._

The Emperor Ing screamed at Samus. The sound turned her stomach, and she had to force herself not to puke. The Emperor Ing was undoubtedly the most disgusting boss she had ever faced.

The boss flailed it's tentacles at her. Samus switched to the Annihilator Beam and fired at the tentacles to retract them. She needed only a few shots for each one because they homed in, although it wasn't as good as the Wave Beam on Tallon IV. The tips of the tentacles were sensitive and they retracted under the withering fire of the Annihilator Beam. When all the tentacles retracted, the head of the beast turned into a bright sphere of light with a partial barrier that seemed to be an eye. Samus scanned it, then waited until the gap was lined up with her arm cannon. When the boss fired a laser at her, she dodged and fired the Sonic Boom right into the gap. The Emperor Ing screamed in pain, and fired another laser. Samus simply dodged and fired another Sonic Boom into the gap.

The creature screamed again and it's head formed around the eye. Samus simply shot all the tentacles to make it appear again and then used the Sonic Boom.

After several rounds of this, the Emperor Ing did something awful. It's head turned upside down and _SWALLOWED it's body!!!!_ Samus had never seen anything so gruesome. "Eeeeeeeeewwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!! Disgusting!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she said.

The head then hardened into a shell of some sort. Samus scanned it. _Morphology: Emperor Ing Chrysalis. The Emperor Ing has retreated inside a durable healing shell. Analysis indicates Spider Ball travel is possible on the shell's surface. There are several holes in the shell. Bomb all the holes to crack the shell and expose the enemy within._

Samus transformed and rolled up the side of the chrysalis. The poison gas forced her to climb higher. Rolling around, she waited by one of the holes until it bubbled, then dropped three bombs and rolled out of the way as a tentacle emerged. The bombs went off, destroying the tentacle. Samus repeated the process with all the other holes. There were countless Inglets roaming the surface of the shell, so she got knocked off a lot, however, she simply got back up and bombed them to refill her energy and ammo. Samus soon discovered that Power Bombs were even better than normal bombs for bombing the holes. She bombed all the holes until finally, the chrysalis started glowing. Samus barely got off in time before it violently exploded.

Samus transformed and stared at the creature within.

If the first form had been unpleasant to look at, this one was beyond that. Ugly was far too much of an understatement to describe this creature with a huge mouth, five legs, and three horns. It was absolutely hideous.

Samus scanned it. _Morphology: Mutated Emperor Ing. Altered ruler of the Ing horde. Phazon exposure has further mutated the Emperor Ing. The creature seems to only take damage when it's heart is Light or Dark. Find a way to change the heart to one of these colors._

Samus fired a super missile at it's mouth, changing it's heart from orange to purple. She then switched to the Light Beam and fired charged shots at the Ing's mouth until it changed back to orange. Another super missile turned it to white. Because the Dark Beam was not effective against such fast-moving targets, Samus used the Annihilator Beam for white instead.

As she fired at the creature she heard it's voice inside her head. A horrible, oily voice that sounded like poop squishing between one's toes.

"I know you, Samus Aran," it said. "You came here to steal away my energy, steal away my empire! You could've been the greatest of my servants. Instead, you chose to fight me. Me, the ruler of the Ing! Now you will feel true pain!"

The Emperor Ing fired several laser and beam attacks. Samus dodged and fired several Annihilator Beam shots. Suddenly it stopped attacking. It frowned, looking past Samus's shoulder. There was a blue flash of light, and standing where they were looking was Dark Samus.

Samus gasped at her appearance. The Worm was completely see-thru, it's veins, arteries, and skeleton clearly visible. She was almost as intimidating as the Emperor Ing himself. Samus trembled, wondering why she was here. _Is she here to help me fight the Emperor Ing?_ she thought. _Or to help him fight me?_

The Emperor Ing lunged forward, screaming in rage. "_PRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMMEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_" he screamed. "I knew I smelled a coward!"

"The only coward I see here is you, brother," said Prime. "And I see the Creator was not wrong in his decision."

"I took my birthright BACK from the likes of you and your Creator!" the Emperor spat.

"What does that mean?" said Dark Samus. "I was chosen to be the Metroid Prime, not you. You were banished, and rightly so. You knew the laws, yet you disobeyed them."

"I know of no laws, brother," said the Emperor Ing. "Except MY OWN!!!!!!!!!!!"

Samus watched as the enemy charged toward Dark Samus. Prime dodged and fired her own version of the Super Missile into his mouth. At the same time, Samus got behind him and fired into his butt hole. When his heart turned purple, Dark Samus raised herself into the air and hurled herself at the Emperor Ing, sending him flying head over heels. In the next instant he was on his feet, but in that instant Samus Aran leapt onto his back. Charging up the Light Beam, she stuck her arm cannon deep into his butt hole and fired the Sunburst.

The Emperor Ing screamed so loud it hurt her ears. It spasmed, trembling so violently that Samus was thrown off of it onto the floor. As she watched, the vile beast screamed even louder than before, flipped onto it's back, and exploded so violently Samus was blown across the room.

Groggily, Samus staggered to her feet. Where the Emperor Ing had been, the last sphere of planetary energy hovered and sparkled. Ignoring it, Samus walked over to the Metroid Prime.

"Thank you, Prime. I am in your debt. I doubt I could've killed your brother without your help." Samus looked around. "So Dark Aether wasn't your creation."

"No, it wasn't," said Prime. "I was the first. The first creation. Before time began, I and my brother were created to serve and glorify the One. In time, I was chosen to be the Metroid Prime, guardian of the Chozo and the Metroid race. My brother was jealous. He wanted to take my place. He tried to sabotage the planet I had created. Rather than resist the evil one, he chose to serve him. And so he was banished. But he wasn't done yet. The Phazon meteor that hit this world was the first one I sent. I created Phazon that it might be used for good, not evil. This world was the planet I chose to test my creation."

"Your brother sabotaged the meteor?" said Samus. "In a way," said Prime. "You see, he inhabited the meteor and, using the powers the One had given him and me, but that he had misused, he created Dark Aether and the Ing horde, his servants, that he might rule the galaxy."

"When I discovered this, I was horrified. But I was not strong enough yet to take on my ex-brother and his servants. So I retreated back to my planet Phaaze, where I made another meteor and launched it toward Tallon IV, with myself aboard."

"But why did you attack the planet and the Chozo?" Samus asked. "Such was not my intent," said Prime. "You see, I was too weak at the time to even leave the impact crater. I created more Phazon so that I could consume it and grow powerful enough to not only leave, but take the fight to the Ing horde. I remained aware of what was going on with the planet and the Chozo, but was powerless to stop it. I could not even take physical form at the time."

"Your power grew beyond your ability to contain it," said Samus, and it was not a question. "Yes," said Prime. "It wasn't until a few months before you made planet fall on Tallon IV that I was able to take physical form and leave the impact crater, but unfortunately the Chozo locked me in with that infernal temple. In the end it was the Pirates who got me out. But I couldn't have fought the Ing without you Samus. You came to me, so that I could assimilate your suit and abilities. Only then was I truly able to fight my ex-brother and his minions." "I understand," said Samus.

"Now that I am more powerful and my ex-brother is vanquished, I may try to send another meteor onto another planet," said Prime.

A cold shiver ran down Samus's spine. "With all due respect sir, I don't think that's a good idea." "We shall see," said Prime.

It then occurred to Samus that she did not know what to call her twin. "By the way, do you have a name?" she asked her.

"Kubraxis," she said. "Nice to meet you Kubraxis." "Nice to meet you too," Kubraxis chuckled. "But I think it's time to do what you came here for."

Samus drained the energy into her suit. Immediately, the temple trembled. A platform was raised up, and the two hunters made their way out of the Sky Temple.

Once out of the Sky Temple, Kubraxis took Samus up in the air with her, so they could watch the destruction of Dark Aether together.

The Sky Temple fell from the sky and crashed to the ground, crumbling to dust. Ing, hundreds of thousands of them, fled before the tumult. Running was useless, for everywhere they tried to run, the ground collapsed and swallowed them up. In the Sky Temple Grounds and the Dark Agon Wastes, huge sandstorms and dirt storms buried everything. The mountains and hills crumbled, crushing billions of Ing to death in the rubble. In Dark Torvus Bog, huge toxic water tsunamis turned the whole region into one big sea, killing the billions of Ing who dwelled there. In the Ing Hive, the entire mountain collapsed in on itself, crumbling into dust. Samus and Prime went thru the nearest portal back to Aether just seconds before the abomination that was Dark Aether exploded into smithereens, and the dimension that housed it was ended, as if it had never been. Back on Aether, the purple shimmering vanished. The sky was clear. The war was over. At last, there could finally be peace. Samus fell to her knees in joy and thanksgiving.

Samus bid farewell to Kubraxis, then went back to the Great Temple and restored the last bit of energy. Relinquishing her Light and Dark Suits, Samus bid farewell to U-mos and the other Luminoth who were out of stasis.

U-mos bowed deeply. "Thank you, Hatchling," he said. "You have restored our world." "Yes," said Samus. "You have a home now U-mos. I can go." "Farewell, Samus Aran," said U-mos as she went out the door with the other Luminoth bowing before her. "May the Light of Aether shine upon you always."

Samus repaired the GFS Tyre and laid to rest the brave marines who gave their blood for the freedom of the galaxy. Although everyone was grateful to her, Samus wasn't one to stay and gloat. Bidding farewell to the survivors and entering her ship, Samus left Aether and blasted into hyperspace, ready for the next adventure.

-----------------------------------

Epilogue

_These are the first images from a reconnaissance probe exploration of the GFS Valhalla. As you can see from the extent of the damage, the savagery of the attack is remarkable. Even for Space Pirates. What's even stranger is they left behind valuable resources and equipment stolen in prior raids. Analysis: never before have the Pirates attacked a capital ship this large and formidable, suggesting mobilization and firepower beyond our comprehension. Their motivations have now become clear._

AU 313 MISSING

The End

The story will continue in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption


End file.
